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Arduino launches Wi-Fi board and ready-to-roll robotics platform

The Arduino Yún includes a Wi-Fi enabled system-on-a-chip
Source: Arduino

Arduino has launched a new family of development boards and its first full robotics platform at Maker Faire Bay Area over the weekend. The Arduino Yún is the first release in a new line of Wi-Fi enabled boards and is based on the Arduino Leonardo coupled with an embedded Wi-Fi board running a MIPS variant of Linux. The Arduino Robot is the company's first robotics platform that is fully functional out of the box and consists of two boards connected by a ribbon cable which are equipped with motors, wheels and sensors in a circular design that is reminiscent of the Roomba. The design also features a color LCD screen, microSD card slot, a compass, LEDs and control elements.

The Arduino Robot is 19 cm in diameter and 10 cm high and possesses a processor in each of its two boards. The lower board controls the platform's motors while the upper half is responsible for processing sensor information and steering the robot. Both boards are based on the ATmega32u4 chip from Atmel. The device can be programmed over a USB interface, similar to the Arduino Leonardo. The system was designed in collaboration with the Complubot robotics makers and was for sale at Maker Faire for $275; it will be available to the general public through Arduino's distributors in the beginning of July.

The Arduino Yún uses the same ATmega32u4 platform as the Robot, basically a classic Arduino Leonardo, but combines it with an Atheros AR9331 system on a chip running Linino, a customised version of OpenWRT. The system-on-a-chip's built in Wi-Fi is fully supported in Linino which also implements a package signing system to authenticate packages installed on the system. Developed with automation company Dog Hunter, the Yún can be programmed over a USB interface or through Wi-Fi. Arduino's partnership with Temboo allows users of the device to access more then 100 APIs for services like Twitter, Facebook, PayPal and FedEx over a single cloud-based interface. The board will be available for $69 plus taxes from the end of June.